Chapter Text
Pierre sighed and leaned his elbows onto the counter, resting his head in his hands and fighting back a heavy sigh. The sun filtered in slowly through the high windows, yellow light showing the dust flitting through the air and gathering onto the shelves. Tins and packages sat unsold, slowly becoming covered.
He should clear the dust. Wipe the shelves down. Mop the floors and put a sign out. Paste on a cheery smile for when the customers walk in. But that would be kidding himself; there'd been no customers all week.
Sundays were usually quite slow, since the only "customers" he got were the group using the altar in their house. He'd suggested once that they should charge for the use of space, but Caroline had told him not to because it would be unethical or something. Caroline doesn't even believe in Yoba, why should it matter to her? And who cares about ethics when they could go bankrupt and be forced out of their home? Where will they go to pray then? They should thank him for letting him use the space with at least a little business, but they never buy anything. Even Jodi who had been a loyal customer for years refused to buy anything anymore.
Pierre couldn't hold back his sigh anymore, letting his head fall onto the empty register. He could hear the faint chatter from the altar room as their small service ended. He took a breath, gathering himself, and stood up straight. He turned his head towards the door at first, but then realised it would look too eager and started rearranging the products at the till instead.
The door swung open, George wheeling in at the front with Jodi behind him, and Evelyn bringing up the rear.
"Well if Yoba doesn't get me into Heaven after that service, I don't know what will," George grumbled.
"I keep telling you George," Evelyn said defeatedly, "you can't get into Heaven just because you ask at the shrine. You need to believe in Yoba."
"Pfft, I'll believe in Yoba when I'm at the gates. Doesn't have much use for me until then, does it?"
"If you say so George."
"Will you be doing some more work on the gardens today, Evelyn?" Jodi asked.
"Yes I think I'll spend some time weeding today. The spring has been lovely on the flowers but it's also helped the weeds spread quite out of control."
"Well I'm happy to help out if you need me to."
"That's sweet Jodi, but don't feel like you have to. Go home and rest."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. You enjoy some time to yourself."
"Well the boys are out of the house at the moment…"
Evelyn chuckled. "Enjoy your quiet. George, will you be going outside today?"
"No, I will not. There's a detective show on and I want to watch that. Besides, what is there to do outside except sit and stare at the grass while bugs make noises in your ears and the sun makes you blind?"
Evelyn tutted and sighed. "If that's what you want to do George, I'm not going to make you do anything else."
"I'd love to spend the day outside," Pierre announced suddenly. The others in the room turned to look at him, as if they hadn't noticed he was there until he spoke. "But then I'd be leaving the shop empty and I'd have to close early. Can't have that, can we?" he said with a self-conscious chuckle.
Jodi gave a polite, but awkward, smile.
Evelyn took in a breath. "Yes, well, it's a shame that you can't spend more time out. I know you're closed on Wednesdays, but this much time indoors really isn't good for you."
"Stores pretty empty now," George barked. "Why don't you go out right now?"
"George," Evelyn said, patting his arm disapprovingly.
"What? We all know he's got no customers. What's he sticking around for?"
Pierre took a sharp breath. "You know what? You're right! I have no customers, so I'm closing early! As soon as you leave I'm locking up!"
"Good for you!" George said, starting to leave for the door.
"Oh, Pierre, pay him no mind. He's just impatient to get back to his shows." Evelyn said, approaching the counter. She held out a hand and rested it onto Pierre's.
"No, I should listen to him, he's right. I mean, not to be blunt but none of you are going to buy anything while you're here, and everyone else is probably shopping at Joja right now."
"Damn right!" George shouted from the door.
"George!"
"Yeah, yeah. Jodi, would you mind getting the door. Damn thing opens the wrong way for the chair."
Jodi quickly crossed the store and swung the door open for George, letting him leave before swiftly following herself.
"Pierre," Evelyn said softly. "I've known you ever since you moved here. You were so excited to start your business, sell your produce. Just because things have… taken a bit of a dip recently, doesn't mean that you should give up."
"'Taken a bit of a dip'? Joja is running me to the ground and the whole town is going along with it. Even that new farmer joined them, and now with their new warehouse right in the middle of town and those 'premium membership prices' I don't stand a chance!"
"You do have a chance Pierre, I just wish that you'd see that."
"Oh, I do, do I? Where do you do your shopping Mrs Mullner?"
"Well, I. I just try to save money for my family since George retired and-"
"And they've got much better deals and even though the food isn't as good or fresh it's better to save on money." Pierre ended, waving his hand dismissively. "Don't worry, I know how it goes."
"It's just, no one in the Valley is particularly wealthy, and…" Evelyn sighed. "I see you're upset, and I have to work on the flower beds. But if you need to talk, any time at all, we can sit together with some cookies."
Pierre pressed his lips together. "Thanks Mrs Mullner, but I think I'll take that walk today."
Pierre felt an odd amount of satisfaction as he turned the sign from Open to Closed, stepping out into the brilliant sunshine and feeling the cobbled path beneath his feet. He squinted, eyes not used to seeing the sun. It felt somehow right and completely wrong that it was such a lovely day, on the day he decided he had had enough.
He tilted his head back, looking to the clouds. Even they were perfect today, pulled cotton fluffiness against the perfect blue of the sky.
He laughed to himself, almost giddy. He was outside, actually out in the honest-to-Yoba sunshine, on a workday. He could go anywhere he wanted, no customers waiting to complain about the selection or prices, no Caroline to give him a pitying look and no Abi to say a cutting remark. He was truly free, but in his heart he knew there was only one place he could go.
Pierre found himself in front of what had been the community centre, but was now rapidly becoming something else. Something darker, although the darkness was purely metaphorical as in truth it was becoming a particular shade of blue. It would be finished soon, and then Pierre's grave will truly have been dug, and him laid down beneath the dirt.
"Pierre! I didn't expect to see you here!"
Pierre knew exactly who was calling to him before he turned around. In a small town you learn to recognise each other quickly, but the voice of your business rival mixed with the smugness of his success and Pierre's failure is hard to miss.
"Morris." Pierre said, by way of reluctant greeting.
"Come to admire the work? Of course it's not open just yet, but I bet we can get it done fast. Got the best workers money can hire working around the clock on it!" Morris chuckled. "Speaking of working, aren't you supposed to be standing behind a till around now, waiting to see if anyone walks in?"
Pierre breathed heavily, curling one of his hands into a fist before shoving it into a pocket where Morris couldn't see. "I'm taking a break, decided to have a walk."
"One of the perks of closing down, no business means no responsibilities!"
"I'm not closing down, Morris." He replied through gritted teeth.
"Ah, of course not, my mistake. Soon-to-be closing down. That is, unless you'd like to have a little talk with me."
"What about?"
"Your future as a business owner. I have a little proposition for you."
"What if I don't want to hear it?"
"You don't have to hear anything, but you should listen to what I have to say. It will be the difference between your little store staying open and you having to sell and leave the Valley." Morris paused, watching Pierre's face carefully. Pierre himself was doing careful considerations. Of course he didn't want to listen or hear Morris at all, in fact he'd rather clock him in the face and run, but he couldn't just give in to his pride. It was true, now that Morris and Joja had taken control there was no way his store could survive, but did he really want to talk with Morris about his failings as a business owner, husband, and father? No, of course not. But was it what needed to be done?
Pierre took a slow breath, and relaxed his hand from its fist. "You can talk, but I'm not making any deals with you."
Morris looked as if he was going to say something, but thought better of it and simply smiled. "You can be the first one in to the new warehouse, besides the people making it. I'll show you to my office and we can talk there."
Pierre dutifully followed Morris into the smiling blue building, letting Morris's chatter drown out into background noise as they entered. He barely even looked around, instead just staring at his feet moving against the floor as he stepped closer to what he was sure would be his doom.
Morris opened a door at the back of the warehouse and gestured for Pierre to go inside, making Pierre walk past him in the tight space to go into the room. It was a standard room, as offices go, but Pierre wasn't much interested in the decor.
He sat himself in a chair opposite Morris's desk, and the other man seated himself rather smugly in the main seat.
"You've had difficulties Pierre, customers leaving you, less money coming in, and my goodness how much you've raised the prices in the last month alone!"
"I wonder who caused that," Pierre said sarcastically.
"Well if having a rival business in town caused yours to close then you didn't exactly run your business well in the first place, did you?"
"Joja is a corporation that takes shortcuts, underpays workers, and mass-produces to avoid costs. I provide high-quality produce for a small profit that's actually fresh, and healthy, and yes costs are high but I need to provide for my family and I can't do that if I'm selling at a loss!"
"About your family. How do they feel about your current situation?"
"Oh, fuck you Morris!" Pierre rose from his seat, dragging the chair out of the way and reaching for the door. The handle was locked.
Morris smiled. "I told you to listen, and hear me."
"Let me out. Now."
"Hear what I have to say, and then I will let you out."
"I don't have to listen to anything."
"You do. If you didn't have to be here, then you wouldn't be. You came here because you knew I was your only option, and now you will put that chair back, sit down, and listen to me."
Pierre's breath shook. "I can shout, get someone to let me out."
"The workers have just gone on break, they won't be back for some time. And everyone else is avoiding the construction. I will speak, you will listen, and then I will unlock the door. I will present you with an offer, and then I will let you go."
"What if I say no?"
"It does not matter what you say. All you have to do is hear my offer and, if you would like, consider it."
Pierre tried to swallow the bad taste in his mouth and turned away from the door, sitting back in his seat.
"Good."
"Make your offer and let me out."
"So impatient. Not a good luck for a business owner to have, unless you know you're the strongest in the room, and you are in no such position." Morris sighed. "But I suppose I should just get right to it. My offer is this: JojaMart will lose key inventory and stop selling certain essential products, which also happen to be available at Pierre's General Store. On behalf of the corporation, of course I am very sorry about this mishap, but it will not be corrected for the forseeable future and with the war happening, our availability might be affected for quite some time. Our other products may also increase in price to accomodate this change, for which we are also very sorry but it is simply unavoidable."
"Why would you do that?"
Morris clicked his tongue. "Well, I might, I might not. It all depends on whether you will meet me on nights that I ask, and join me in bed."
"You mean..? No!" Pierre shouted. "Absolutely not!"
"Well then Joja Co's prices will remain as low as ever and you can keep your business as it is now."
"Why would you do this!"
"Because I can, and because you're desperate."
"This is coercion! I will not let you do this and I will not be a part of this!"
"Then don't be. You don't have to say yes." Morris looked almost bored, picking at skin on his hand as he answered Pierre's rage in a flat, disinterested tone.
"But if I say no then there's no way that my business can survive! You know that! Everything you've done has just been steps to destroying my business, my livelihood! And even now you can't even pretend to care about me as a person!"
"I feel the same way about you as I do any other person; you're a stepping stone between me and money, and I want money. So if I have to steal all your customers and close down your business, I'm fine with that."
"So then why offer to keep my store open? Won't that put me more in the way?"
"In a sense. But if I remove you, what else do I have? I become the only supermarket in Stardew Valley, then what? I open a blacksmith counter and deal with livestock and take over the other businesses, and then what? You, despite your infuriating tendency to refuse to get out of my way, are interesting. Most businesses would have rolled over and taken a payout long before now, but you're stubborn. You've stuck around and tried to cling to what you have, and I do admire that. I want you to stay around and stay open, but I won't do it for free. Something has to come from this deal, and you have no money."
"You just want to pin me under your thumb, keep me under your control."
"Well I want to pin you under something, yes."
Pierre choked. "I-. Let me out. I'm not going to be a part of this."
"By all means." Morris stood up and crossed the room, brushing his arm against Pierre's as he passed to put the key in the handle. "Go home to your lovely wife and daughter, and tell them why they'll be an eviction notice on their door by the end of the month. Have a lovely day."